The train ride from Southwest Germany to Prague was long! We spent 12 hours on the train. Before leaving Germany, we heard about the floods through Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic and today we got to see the devastation from the train. It was really sad. When we found where we were staying, we said hello to our roommates in the hostel and crashed.
The next day, we took a FREE city walking tour to the most important sites in Prague. We also learned a lot about the history of the city, especially when it was under control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Prague is a very beautiful city and much of this is due to Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia (the region Prague belonged to at the time). He built beautiful churches, bridges, universities, and many other important buildings. During this tour, we were told many legends of Prague, the most famous being the legend of Gulu. This legend, as well as others, can be found at http://www.myczechrepublic.com/prague/history/prague_legends.html
After the tour, we decided to go up the hill to the castle. Instead of taking the tour inside the castle, we opted to walk around the castle grounds for a bit. We walked a lot and our feet were sore, so we didn’t stay very long.
The next day we decided to go to a park that looked interesting. It was located on top of a hill and had beautiful views looking over the city. We went to an art gallery where the walls were painted and spackled to look like an underground cave and the work was from an artist taht paints fantasy figures and landscapes.
It was really interesting. The park also had a mirror labryinth and distorted mirrors.
We had a good laugh before having a romantic stroll through the park. We ended the day watching the sun go down in the park overlooking the city.
The next day was very unusual. We decided to take a train trip outside of Prague to Kostnice Ossuary in Kutna Hora. This is a church entirely decorated with human bones. 40,000 people are displayed here and their bones form intricate sculputres, including a very elaborate chandelier and coat of arms.
I thought it would be very creepy and, though it certainly was, it amazed me as well. I can’t express the emotions that went through me being surrounded with all those remains of actual people. I will never forget that as long as I live.
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